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wanting to offer a prayer of forgiveness to God for this. Are you not amazed, O man of God? Has not the prophetic word been fulfilled, that priest and prophet alike were out of their minds? Who will give water to my head and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may weep for so great a ruin? The honorable, equal in value to gold, have become as earthen vessels. But why do I lament the affairs of others? I shall turn the lamentation upon myself. How shall I be saved from the evil one? How shall I get through the present contest, being weak, when the strong have slipped? For this reason I beseech your holiness, stand you, at least, the elect of God, unwavering, firm, established in the unshaken faith of Christ, by your own stance strengthening and confirming, along with many others in whom is a life-giving spirit, also my own laxity, which loves indeed to suffer all things for Christ and through Christ, but is deemed unworthy because of measureless sins. May the great hand of the Lord preserve you, strong and mighty with God against those who are against God, my father and master. 231 {1To Athanasius the abbot}1 When I had been anxious for a long time and longing to learn of your holiness, your God-beloved letter arrived, and what need is there to say how much it cheered and pleased me? For I was released from my care and I glorified our good God, learning of your health, both of the condition of your body and of the state of your precious soul; for such was the letter, quite full of fraternal love, brimming with divine courage, fruitful with fiery zeal, truly filled with the gifts of the spirit, and this while you were in prison, bound in iron, O your good confession, O your steadfast heart; you were scourged with Christ, not once but twice, and having been beaten you rejoiced, and you chose exile with great joy, and the tortures for God's sake became for you like luxuries. For this reason I call you my father and the father of many, an athlete of piety, a pillar and foundation of the truth, and admittedly a confessor of Christ, not one who ran a double course in the race of martyrdom, and then grew weary and turned back, like those around Joseph who slipped (of whom that might fittingly be said: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven; for whom the lawlessness is great, but greater is the shame in the midst of the world, along with the curse of the millstone for the scandal), but one who is running and will run many fine courses, I know well, by the good pleasure of God, to the goal of the crowns. Hail, most excellent Athanasius, a name great and venerable among all, fittingly given to you and by way of a namesake; hail, well-stemmed sapling of the Lord, whose rest is in you. Wherewithal, it says, shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed to your words. Greetings to you, most beloved to me and father of children, the one because of affection, the other because of your rank, fellow worker and fellow athlete, if it is possible for me, the unworthy one, to be taken into account; because I possess no good thing nor have I contributed to the church of God, but if there is anything, to him be the grace, with you also ministering in like manner through your succession, so that, as it is written, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf for the gift bestowed on us. This is my little address from a humble person. But you, O sacred head, building upon your good foundation, perfect yourself as a house of God, preparing yourself even unto blood in the confession of Christ, always praying fervently for the same things for me, that I might not be separated through my sins from your sacred triad, nor again from the other fathers of equal renown to you; for there are still those who have not bent the knee to Baal. 232 {1To Philip the monk}1 The things that have happened to you, spiritual child, have become known to us; what are these? That after you confessed before God and the elect angels, in the hearing of both the steward and the brotherhood present, that you were our child and numbered with the others, it happened that when your father according to the flesh fell asleep, you were taken

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πρόεσθαι εὐχῆς συγχωρητικῆς πρὸς τοῦτο εἰς θεὸν βουλόμενος. οὐ θαυμάζεις, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ; οὐ πεπλήρωται τὸ προφητικόν, ὅτι ἱερεὺς καὶ προφήτης ἅμα ἐξέστησαν; τίς δῴη τῇ κεφαλῇ μου ὕδωρ καὶ τοῖς βλεφάροις μου πηγὴν δακρύων καὶ κλαύσομαι ἐπὶ τῷ τηλικούτῳ συντρίμματι; οἱ τίμιοι καὶ ἰσόχρυσοι ἐγενήθησαν ὡς ἀγγεῖα ὀστράκινα. Ἀλλὰ τί τὰ ἄλλων κατοδύρομαι; εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ἐπιστρέψω τὸν θρῆνον. πῶς σωθῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ; πῶς διαβιβάσοιμι τὸν ἐνεστῶτα ἀγῶνα ἀνίσχυρος ὤν, τῶν δυνατῶν ὀλισθησάντων; διὰ τοῦτο δέομαί σου τῆς ὁσιότητος, στῆθι κἂν αὐτὸς ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀκλινής, πάγιος, ἐρηρεισμένος ἐν τῇ ἀσαλεύτῳ πίστει Χριστοῦ, τῇ οἰκείᾳ στάσει στερεῶν καὶ βεβαιῶν σὺν πολλοῖς ἄλλοις, οἷς ἐστι πνεῦμα ζωτικόν, καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν χαυνότητα, φιλοῦσαν μὲν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ καὶ διὰ Χριστὸν παθεῖν πάντα, ἀναξιουμένην δὲ διὰ τὰ ἄμετρα ἁμαρτήματα. ἐρρωμένον σε καὶ ἰσχύοντα μετὰ θεοῦ κατὰ τῶν κατὰ θεοῦ ἡ μεγάλη χεὶρ τοῦ Κυρίου διαφυλάξειεν, τὸν ἐμὸν πατέρα καὶ δεσπότην. 231 {1Ἀθανασίῳ ἡγουμένῳ}1 Ἀδολεσχοῦντά με ἤδη ἐκ πολλοῦ χρόνου καὶ ποθοῦντα μαθεῖν τὰ τῆς ὁσιότητός σου, ἐπιστὰν τὸ θεοφιλές σου γράμμα, ὅσον εὔφρανεν καὶ ἥδυνεν τί χρὴ καὶ λέγειν; ἀπελύθην γὰρ τῆς μερίμνης καὶ ἐδόξασα τὸν ἀγαθὸν ἡμῶν θεόν, γνοὺς τὸ ὑγιές σου τῆς τε τοῦ σώματος ἕξεως καὶ τοῦ καταστήματος τῆς τιμίας σου ψυχῆς· οἵα γὰρ ἡ ἐπιστολή, ἀγάπης ἀδελφικῆς ἐπίμεστος, ἀνδρείας θεϊκῆς ἀνάπλεως, ζήλου διαπύρου κατάκαρπος, τῶν χαρισμάτων ὄντως τοῦ πνεύματος πεπληρωμένη, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν εἱρκτῇ ὄντος σου σιδηροδεσμίου, ὢ τῆς καλῆς σου ὁμολογίας, ὢ τῆς σταθηρᾶς σου καρδίας· ἐμαστιγώθης μετὰ Χριστοῦ, οὐχ ἅπαξ ἀλλὰ καὶ δίς, καὶ τετυμμένος ἐγεγήθεις καὶ τὴν ἐξορίαν εἵλου περιχαρῶς καὶ ὡς ἐντρυφήματα τὰ ὑπὲρ θεοῦ σοι βασανίσματα ἐγεγόνει. διὰ τοῦτό σε καλῶ πατέρα μου καὶ πατέρα πολλῶν, ἀθλητὴν εὐσεβείας, στῦλον καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ὁμολογουμένως ὁμολογητὴν Χριστοῦ, οὐχ ἕνα δίαυλον διανύσαντα ἐν τῷ δρόμῳ τῆς μαρτυρίας, εἶτα ἠτονηκότα καὶ εἰς τοὐπίσω τραπέντα, ὡς οἱ περὶ Ἰωσὴφ ὀλισθήσαντες (ἐν οἷς ἐκεῖνο ἂν λεχθείη εἰκότως· οὐδεὶς βαλὼν τὴν χεῖρα ἐπ' ἄροτρον καὶ στραφεὶς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω εὔθετός ἐστιν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν· οἷς μεγάλη μὲν ἡ ἀνομία, μείζων δὲ ἡ αἰσχύνη ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ κόσμου μετὰ καὶ τῆς ἀρᾶς τῆς μυλιονίτιδος τοῦ σκανδάλου), ἀλλὰ πολλοὺς καὶ καλοὺς διαμείβοντα καὶ διαμείψοντα, εὖ οἶδ' ὅτι, εὐδοκίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν στεφάνων. Χαῖρε κράτιστε Ἀθανάσιε, τὸ μέγα παρὰ πᾶσιν καὶ σεβάσμιον ὄνομα, εἰκότως σοι ἐπιτεθὲν καὶ κατὰ φερωνυμίας λόγον· χαῖρε ὅρπηξ εὐστέλεχε Κυρίου, οὗ πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀνάπαυσις. ἐν τίνι, φησί, κατορθώσει νεώτερος τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ; ἐν τῷ φυλάξασθαι τοὺς λόγους σου. χαίροις ἐμοὶ προσφιλέστατε καὶ τεκνοπάτωρ, τὸ μὲν διὰ τὸν πόθον, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὸ ἀξίωμα, ὁ συνεργὸς καὶ σύναθλος, εἴπερ ἔνεστιν εἰς ψήφισμα κἀμὲ τὸν ἀχρεῖον λαμβάνεσθαι· διότι οὐδὲν ἀγαθὸν κέκτημαι οὐδὲ συνεισήνεγκα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστιν, αὐτῷ ἡ χάρις, συνυπουργούντων καὶ ὑμῶν τῇ ὁμοτροπίᾳ διὰ τῆς ἀλληλουχίας, ἵνα, καθὼς γέγραπται, ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς χάρισμα εὐχαριστηθῇ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν. Αὕτη ἡ μικρά μου προσφώνησις τοῦ εὐτελοῦς. σὺ δέ, ὦ ἱερὰ κεφαλή, τῷ καλῷ σου θεμελίῳ ἐποικοδομῶν, τελείωσον σεαυτὸν οἶκον θεοῦ, μέχρις αἵματος ἑτοιμαζόμενος ἐν τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ Χριστοῦ, τὰ αὐτὰ κἀμοὶ ἀεὶ ὑπερευχόμενος, ὡς ἂν μὴ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀποσχισθείην τῆς ἱερᾶς ὑμῶν τριάδος μηδ' αὖ τῶν ἄλλων ἰσοκλεῶν ὑμῖν πατέρων· εἰσὶ γὰρ ἔτι οἱ μὴ κάμψαντες γόνυ τῇ Βαάλ. 232 {1Φιλίππῳ μονάζοντι}1 Τὰ συμβεβηκότα σοι, τέκνον πνευματικόν, γνωστὰ ἡμῖν ἐγένετο· τί ταῦτα; ὅτι μετὰ τὸ ὁμολογῆσαί σε ἐνώπιον θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἀγγέλων ἐν ὠσὶν τοῦ τε οἰκονόμου καὶ τῆς συμπαρούσης ἀδελφότητος τέκνον ἡμῶν εἶναι καὶ συναρίθμιον τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἔτυχεν κοιμηθέντος τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα σου πατρὸς ληφθῆναί